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BRASS QUINTET REPERTOIRE

Contemporary Music for Brass Quintet

This collection of contemporary brass quintet music presents works written for performers seeking expressive, modern repertoire for concerts, competitions, and professional ensemble programming. These compositions explore the full range of the brass quintet’s capabilities — from powerful fanfares and rhythmic drive to lyrical writing, coloristic textures, and theatrical elements. This page provides an overview of available works, including instrumentation details, program notes, and score information.

GITZ & SPITZ SUITE

for brass quintet

Duration:
14' minutes
 
Instrumentation:   
2 trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba
 
Year Composed:  
2020/24

Brass Quintet Repertoire

Abstract

Gitz & Spitz Suite is a theatrical and character‑driven work for brass quintet, blending humor, narrative energy, and expressive contrast. The piece moves between bold, rhythmically charged sections and more introspective, lyrical moments, giving each instrument a distinct personality within the ensemble. Designed to engage both performers and audiences, the suite offers a dynamic, colorful addition to the modern brass quintet repertoire.

Program Notes

The Gitz & Spitz Suite is a brass quintet composition inspired by a musical theatre production set in the 13th century. It features Gitz, an enthusiastic but misguided knight, and Spitz, his disillusioned horse. The work humorously explores themes of war and peace through their interactions. Gitz is driven by duty and the glory of battle, while Spitz represents a weary voice of reason, longing for a life free from conflict. The suite delves into the moral and existential consequences of their choices, using satire to critique the nature of warfare and the true cost of loyalty.

VIDEO

Video Recording

Gitz & Spitz Suite
World Premiere Performance
played by Students of ANAM Melbourne, Australia.
November 2024

Score Sample

Score of Gitz & Spitz Suite for brass quintet

About Brass Quintet Music

The brass quintet is one of the most versatile chamber ensembles, capable of powerful projection, intricate counterpoint, and a wide range of colors and articulations. Contemporary works for brass quintet often explore extended techniques, rhythmic complexity, and dramatic contrasts, while still embracing the ensemble’s traditional strengths. These compositions contribute to the expanding repertoire for brass quintet, offering performers technically engaging and artistically rewarding pieces suitable for both recital and professional performance settings.

Brass Quintet Repertoire List

This list represents a definitive collection of the core original repertoire for the modern brass quintet, spanning from Romantic-era foundational work to contemporary 21st-century masterpieces. It features essential pedagogical and performance staples by renowned composers that have defined the ensemble's virtuosic capabilities and standardized its instrumentation.

  • Victor Ewald: Quintet No. 3 in D-flat Major, Op. 7, c. 1911

  • Malcolm Arnold: Quintet for Brass, Op. 73 (Brass Quintet No. 1), 1961

  • Eugène Bozza: Sonatine, 1951

  • Ingolf Dahl: Music for Brass Instruments, 1944

  • Eric Ewazen: Colchester Fantasy, 1987

  • Morley Calvert: Suite from the Monteregian Hills, 1961

  • Jan Bach: Laudes (Songs of Praise), 1971

  • Elliott Carter: Brass Quintet, 1974

  • Witold Lutosławski: Mini Overture, 1982

  • Anthony Plog: Four Sketches, 1988

  • Alexander Arutiunian: Armenian Scenes, 1984

  • Enrique Crespo: Suite Americana No. 1, 1977

  • Joseph Horovitz: Music Hall Suite, 1964

  • Jan Koetsier: Brass Quintet, Op. 65, 1974

  • André Previn: Four Outings for Brass, 1974

  • John Cheetham: A Brass Menagerie, 1987

  • Anthony DiLorenzo: Fire Dance, 1998

  • Kerry Turner: Ricochet, 1993

  • Leonard Bernstein: Dance Suite, 1989

  • Vern Reynolds: Centone No. 5, 1969

  • Michael Kamen: Quintet (for Canadian Brass), 2002

  • Karel Husa: Divertimento for Brass Quintet, 1968

  • Joan Tower: Copperwave, 2006

  • David Sampson: Morning Music, 1986

  • Anders Hillborg: Brass Quintet, 1998

  • William Bolcom: Brass Quintet, 1980

  • Edward Gregson: Quintet for Brass, 1967

  • Derek Bourgeois: Sonata for Brass Quintet, Op. 21, 1965

  • Donald Erb: Three Pieces for Brass Quintet, 1968

  • Gordon Jacob: Changing Moods, 1983

  • Jack Gallagher: Toccata for Brass Quintet, 1986

  • Malcolm Forsyth: Golyardes' Grounde, 1972

  • Georges Delerue: Vitrail, 1979

  • Judith Bingham: The Stars Above, The Earth Below, 2003

  • Howard J. Buss: Concord, 1990

  • James Stephenson: Voyages, 2020

  • Lior Navok: Gitz & Spitz Suite, 2020/2024

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